Behind The Fence
by ChibiWolf18
Summary: After almost a year of isolation, Ventus decides to disobey Xehanort to get a small taste of freedom by going into the backyard. However, behind the barrier of his fence, he meets two people who would change his life forever. But will it be more than he bargained for?
1. Behind the Fence

It was a warm, sunny morning in the small town known as Daybreak Town. A day fit for a child to go out and play with their friends, much to their parents relief.

In a household at the centre of its neighbourhood sat a boy on the sofa, staring blankly at the TV's screen with a remote in his hand. He would keep mindlessly switching between channels, watching whatever show was on the screen for about 5 seconds before deciding he didn't like it or was bored of it, then would click a button and the cycle continued. After a short while, he looked at the clock, sighing loudly as he got off of the sofa, turning the TV off as he lacked the motivation to watch the TV as he would normally do all day, everyday. Or at least it felt like it was everyday. Each new day seemed to have all mixed with each other and melding into one so he couldn't really tell anymore.

He jumped off of the sofa, walking towards the window and sliding the curtains to one side, watching as kids played carelessly in the middle of the street. It was a fairly quiet street, so there were barely any cars driving around. He smiled, watching the children playfully shove each other, some of their voices could be heard as they screamed at each other from across a makeshift soccer field.

After a while, he looked over to the kitchen just across from him, his eyes searching for the clock. It was 12:00pm. _'Time for lunch'_ he thought to himself as he walked I over to the counters. As he had started to prepare the food he would eat for lunch, he couldn't help but stare at one of the top drawers, and debating whether or not he should open it and grab the key inside it. Earlier that morning, he had seen Xehanort place it inside that particular drawer when he thought the boy wasn't looking. His gaze remained fixed onto that one drawer. Maybe this would be his only chance at freedom.

What was only a year felt like an eternity to the boy, his young heart yearning to be a child again and just play with the other children without a care in the world. But it would be breaking the rules... As his mind came up with possible scenarios on how Xehanort would react to the keys being stolen, he finally decided that maybe he wouldn't notice if he just stayed in the backyard as he could easily slip back into the house if he hears Xehanort pull into the driveway. He brushed the thoughts away, swiftly getting into action.

He decided that no matter the consequence, finally being able to go outside would definitely be worth it as he jumps down from the stool he was standing on and quickly opening the drawer and taking the key out, walking towards the back door before suddenly stopping himself, his heart racing from both excitement and fear. After a short while he takes a deep breath, gathering up the courage to place the key into the door's lock, turning it and hearing a satisfying 'click' as it unlocks, and he heads outside for the first time without being escorted by Xehanort.

It was a refreshing feeling, breathing in the fresh air, feeling the warm sun touch his skin as he stood outside. The green grass was enticing, the young boy walking slowly to it and noticing that it probably hadn't been cut in a long time. The 6 year old boy giggled softly as the soft grass brushes against his bruised knees, getting lost in pleasant sensation of bliss before suddenly hearing a faint voice call out to him. At least he thought it was directed to him.

"Hello!" He jumped as the voice startled him, swivelling his head around to find where the voice had come from. The voice was soft and soothing, most probably belonging to a girl around his age. Shortly after his ears are met with another "Hello?" From a more masculine yet childlike voice. He looks at the fence to his right to see two children visibly older than himself staring at him, smiling as he turned his head to their direction. The girl giggled.

"Yes, we're talking to you! Who are you?" She smiled, waiting for his response.

The boy said nothing, his heart racing as he tried to find the right words to say. But nothing has come to his mind, as he was already preoccupied on thinking about what he was supposed to do and whether or not he should actually talk to the pair.

"Helloooo??" The older boy said impatiently, "Can you hear us? Aqua I think he's deaf!" Shortly after, his remark was met with a slight tap from the blue haired girl.

"Don't talk to him like that, you'll scare him off!" Was all that could be heard as the girl scolded the boy before turning back to the other. The brown haired boy stuck his tongue out at her playfully, wearing a pout on his face to add to his dramatic reaction.

"Sorry about my friend, he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes..." The boy turned his head to his friend, giving an exaggerated expression of offence. The girl hadn't noticed, or at least chose to ignore her friend, and continued with her introduction. "Anyways, my name's Aqua and he's Terra!" What's yours?" She held her hand out to the younger boy as she greeted him, the 6 year old looking at the hand nervously.

"Ven... Ventus..." the boy said weakly, stepping back a little as he pondered whether or not it would be rude to run back into the house now.

The girl giggled softly, before saying "It's nice to meet you Ven!" She said to him, already giving the boy a nickname. Terra soon chimed in "So, are you new here?"

Ven stared nervously again, wondering how he would explain that he had been in that neighbourhood for about a year now, but was just never allowed outside?

"I've been here for a while... I mean, I've only been here for a year, I just..." The two of them just watched him, waiting for him to finish his response. " I just never had the time to go out much..."

"I understand," Terra said empathetically, "You must've been busy unpacking and stuff." Ven could only assume that the older boy had been in a similar scenario.

Ven forced out a soft chuckle, looking away from the two, looking away sheepishly. The conversation seemed to go dead before the faint sound of a woman's voice called from the house on the other side of the fence.

"Kids!! Lunch is ready!"

"Coming mum!" Aqua called out before turning back to Ven. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No, but-"

"Why don't you join us? I'm sure my mum wouldn't mind another visitor." Aqua enthused, appearing excited to invite her newfound friend over to share a meal.

"I-I'm alright..." Ven forced a small smile, "My... Dad is preparing lunch and is probably almost done... So... I should probably head back." The boy mentally slapped himself for coming up with such a bad lie, but the other two seemed to fall for it, saying their goodbyes before heading into their houses, Ven making sure to lock the door behind him and throwing throwing the key back into the drawer, hoping that Xehanort wouldn't notice that it had been taken out.

He leaned up against the wall and sighing as his heart was still racing a little bit from that interaction. Soon he let himself sink onto the floor, resting his back onto the cold wall as he sat. But despite his sense of fear, he felt quite happy, finally feeling like he can reconnect with the world once more after about a year of isolation. He smiled, remembering their happy expressions as they introduced themselves and how excited they were to have met him.

"Terra... Aqua..." He mumbled under his breath, satisfied that he had remembered their names.

After regaining his composition, he got up and straightened out his shorts, walking back over to the counter before taking a step back up onto the stool and continued preparing a sandwich for himself.

After lunch he had continued watching television, settling for a certain channel until, a few hours later, he heard a car pull up into the driveway. Instantly, Ven felt his heart sink. Ven always treasured the time he spent without Xehanort, no matter how lonely it may get. It didn't take him long to figure out that maybe living with this man wasn't the best decision Ven had ever made in the 6 years he had lived. Soon, the door opened and Ven jumped off of the sofa.

"Ventus, I assume you're ready?" Xehanort asked in a low, raspy voice. He looked at the younger boy with a stern expression. Ven nodded, his heart racing as he couldn't even muster the courage to say anything. With that, the man beckoned him to follow, they both get into the car and soon Xehanort reverses out of the driveway.

The drive was silent for the entire duration of the car ride, or at least most of it. Only in a matter of minutes the car turned into a highway which was practically the bridge between Daybreak Town and Twilight Town. He observed the buildings, built with a soft, warm aesthetic. The buildings seemed to all share a similar colour palettes of browns, yellows, oranges and reds. After a long while the houses and other buildings started to become very few and far between as they got closer to their destination. Ven spent most of his time looking out the window, staring blankly at nothing before Xehanort spoke up.

"Do not disappoint me again, do you remember what happened last time you did?"

Ven brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them tight, looking down at the floor before he absentmindedly started to trace his fingers across the scabs that had started to form on his legs. He was not ready for whatever Xehanort had in plan this time. The man stoped the car right in front of the dark forest, both people stepping out, Xehanort leading the way into the seemingly eternal darkness of the forest. Ven looked around. The sky started to turn into an orangey-pink colour, still with a hint of blue as the sun had just started to set as day turned into night. In the distance he could still vaguely see the glowing lights that belonged to the houses of the citizens that inhabited the town. He remembered the town. He missed it.

"Ventus, follow!" Xehanort commanded, not too far away from the boy. "We don't have all night to continue your training!"

Ven hastily followed, not wanting to be left alone in such a place. In the dimming night, the trees seemed to reach for the young boy as though they were alive, the various noises hidden deep into the woods sounded louder as his imagination started to run wild. What if this place _is_ haunted? What if the trees really were alive? Were they going to hurt him? He had walked down this path countless times but only God knows what could've crawled into this place while they weren't there.

After a while of walking through the narrow path of the forest, they turned into an open area of land, surrounded by more trees and practically hidden from anyone's sight. This is where the training would begin.

They walked a little bit further into the field before Xehanort turned around, hands behind his back. "Now remember what I taught you Ventus, channel the darkness in your heart and turn it into power. Use that power to defeat these Heartless..." As he gave his small speech, te dark and shadowy creatures known as Heartless started to form in a circle around Ven, who looked around at them in awe. It wasn't his first time seeing them, he had seen them many times before this, but this was more than he was used to. "And once you are strong enough, you can create the all powerful x-blade!"

Ven looked around again, the monsters twitching and staring at him with soulless eyes, before the boy averted his gaze back to Xehanort. "But Master there are too many!"

The older man glared at Ven, pointing a finger at him threateningly. "Don't dare disobey me, boy! You know what will happen to you if you refuse to fight!" He yelled from across the field, his raspy voice only barely making it to the boy's ears.

Ven swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and held out his hand and with a burst of light, his Keyblade appearing in his hand before he swiftly got into position, nervously looking at the enemies while holding onto his Keyblade tightly. Then, with the click of Xehanort's fingers, the Heartless all rushed towards Ven, who swung his Keyblade sloppily at them, the weapon still too heavy for the 6 year old. He kept shrieking out loudly as he kept on blindly waving his Keyblade around in the hopes that it would hit the creatures that had started latching onto him. Already he had managed to make a few of the figures disappear. A small smile appeared on Ven's face. Maybe he was strong enough to do this.

"Ventus, keep an eye out for the enemies behind you!" Ven turned around as he heard those words call out from behind him. Xehanort had been walking around the field and observing how the boy was fighting.

Just as Ven had turned around, a Heartless had swung its arm at him, a sharp claw making contact with his skin. A sharp pain erupted on his face as a large cut formed on it, reaching from his jawline and running diagonally across his cheek before it ended just beneath his eye. His reaction was almost instantaneous. He stepped back, dropping his keyblade as he brought his shaking hands to his face, the weapon fading into light after it fell onto the grass with a loud 'clunk'. The Heartless started to surround him once more, swarming around him as he fell to his knees, some of the creatures climbing and latching onto his small frame. The boy let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream, a sort of late reaction as the pain had caught up with him after his short moment of shock. He was crying and sobbing as he tried to shake off the Heartless, but to no avail. Slowly Xehanort walked towards the boy, standing over him and watching as the boy wrestled with the creatures that had started to scratch at him. Ven looked up at Xehanort.

"Master...! Master, please help me!" He called out desperately.

The man watched for a short while longer in hopes that the boy would come to his senses and defeat them like he was supposed to. He then decided that waiting would be pointless, so with the click of his fingers, the Heartless all disappeared into the night. Ven was still curled up, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed loudly before Xehanort used his feet to push Ven onto his back. The boy didn't seem to fight back, letting his body fall to the side before he was rolled onto his back. Xehanort then noticed the rather large wound on his face, it was still bleeding down Ven's face. His eyes trailed down to the boy's shirt, the shirt that was completely white before but now had a large, red stain on the left side of his shirt. He scoffed.

"Pathetic..." The boy was now only barely conscious, still sobbing weakly as Xehanort picked him up and draped him over his shoulders, walking back down the path from which they had come from, the man laying him down on the back seats of the car, blood still dripping from his face. The six year old leaned his head onto the soft car seats, before feeling himself drifting into sleep as Xehanort started the car and drove back into civilisation.

 **A/N: So I've had this idea sitting around for a while. This is only really part of a story I've had planned but I got bored and decided to write this down! There will be more parts. To give some context, this is basically some backstory to Ven's character in a sort of modern AU. Anyways, it's 1am and I cannot explain this at all so I'll just leave this note here!**


	2. Overseeing the fence

Ventus awoke in the forest, laying on his back in the middle of a crowd of trees. He looked around, his entire body feeling sore. He then felt that it was safe to start moving so he sat up, groaning as he forced his aching body to move.

 _'Where am I?'_ He thought to himself. He remembered vaguely that Xehanort had carried him back to the car. Maybe that was a dream. He sighed, getting up onto his feet and looking around, dusting off some dirt that had gotten onto his shorts. Which way did he need to go? The forest was almost unrecognisable as though it had changed overnight. He started walking slowly, thinking that if he walked around aimlessly, he would just end up at the entrance of the forest.

He walked around for a short while, the wind howling in his ears as though it were trying to talk to him. He ignored it, continuing to walk through the dark forest only illuminated by the small amount of light that had made it past the leaves that covered the sky above him. After what seemed like an eternity of walking to the small child, he felt the wind start to become stronger, the whistling of the air starting to sound more like a voice. He stopped walking, trying to listen in on the voice in the midst of the various sounds of te forest; The rustling of the leaves as they danced in the wind, the soft whistling of the wind as it rushed past him. He sighed, dissatisfied with the silence that his ears were met with. There was no voice.

He began to walk again, shivering as the cold wind hit his skin. He rubbed his hands up and down his arms, wishing that he would've at least a brought a jacket. After walking through the trees, the wind started picking up the pace again, this time faster than before. The leaves rustled once more as they were attacked by an invisible enemy and the whistling noise was back and louder than before. Another noticeable difference was the the voice was louder, it's words were coherent.

"Ven...! Ven...!" It called out. The boy stopped walking, his heart leaping as he heard his name in the midst of the other various noises. He listened to it closely, it would call out his name every few seconds, as though somebody were looking for him. He listened closely, the voice was deep and familiar. His eyes widened as he realised who it was.

"Daddy?" He gasped, his words mixing in with the whistling of the wind.

"Ven!" The voice echoed out once more.

"Daddy!" Ven called out as loud as his throat would let him, a slight itch in his throat had formed as he made sure his voice reached the ears of the man he assumed was his father. His _real_ father. The boy broke out into a sprint, running towards the source of the voice without paying much attention to his surroundings. Occasionally, part of a tree's protruding roots would hit his knees, the boy reacting with a loud grunt, stumbling a little before regaining himself once more.

"Ven!"

The voice seemed closer this time, tears starting to form in his eyes. Maybe this was his chance at truly being free. Maybe his chance at finally escaping the hell he had been living with for an entire year. He ran faster and faster, each step he took brought him closer and closer to his father until he reached a familiar clearing.

It was circular meadow lined with trees around it. He looked around before spotting a man with brown hair in the middle of this small clearing, his back turned to the boy.

"Ven!" He called out again, except this time his voice was as clear as the sky on a cloudless day. The boy stood at one of te many entrances to this meadow, panting loudly as he tried to catch his breath. The man called his name out again, before the boy called out to the man.

"Daddy!" He called out in a raspy voice as he stood there, still trying to calm his breath and slow his heart rate to a reasonable level. Despite this, the man didn't respond or even turn around. He just kept calling out for him as though he never heard him.

"Daddy?" The six year old started to walk slowly towards the man, his heart leaping once more but not from happiness this time. This time it was out of fear and confusion. He slowly approached the man, making sure not to make much noise as a way to not startle the man. His voice still rang out in his ears, still saying the same thing over and over again in the same tone of voice as he had said everything else in. The boy stood behind the man for a short while before tugging on his shirt in an attempt to get his attention.

"Daddy, I'm right here!" The voice stopped, but the man hadn't turned around. "D-Daddy?" Soon, the man's head snapped around to look down at Ven, his body not following suite. A loud cracking noise that one could only assume was the man's neck had startled Ven, the boy looking up with his eyes wide open, letting out a shriek as his gaze finally rested on the man. His face was distorted and almost demon-like, his eyes a glowing yellow. The face seemed to only vaguely belong to a human. The forest started to cave in on itself, Ven's surroundings starting to fade to black as the man hissed loudly at the boy before dissolving into a swarm of Shadow Heartless, as Xehanort called them.

The boy stepped back, screaming out loudly as the swarm started to slowly creep up his body, their claws scratching at his arms and legs as the latched onto him. As the monsters held onto him, he could hear a distorted voice whisper loudly.

"Why did you run away? Why did you leave me? Don't you love your father anymore?" The voice would keep repeating those words over and over again. The boy letting out a final scream before he was fully engulfed in the shadows.

Ven woke up with a jolt, quickly sitting up as his eyes opened wide. He was quickly met with a throbbing pain on his face, clutching his hands around it before laying back down. His heart was thumping in his chest, beating at an inhumanly fast pace which made it almost impossible to breath. He gasped for air, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to calm himself down.

Soon, his heart slowed down, making it possible to breath normally once more. He sat up once again but slowly this time, taking some time to gather his thoughts.

 _'It was just a dream...'_ He told himself in his mind. His mind was still racing as the images of the dream- no nightmare- had been burned into his memory. After a while, the memory had started to fade away into his subconscious, his mind deterred from the events of the nightmare and back to the events that had taken place lasts night. Ven's eyes widened as he remembered what had happened, and soon he had jumped out of his bed and swung his door open, not bothering to close it as he made his way to the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him even though he knew no one else was in the house. He took a stool and stood in front of the mirror to observe the results of last night's training. The first thing he noticed was the big, ugly scar that had already started to form on his left cheek. It seemed that the wound had been cleaned up but not covered. He looked down at his clothes. Another 'result' that he noticed was that his clothes, or at least the part that covered his left shoulder was drenched in his almost dried up blood. He sighed, lifting his shirt over his head and taking it off, throwing it into the basket next to him. He then opened the door to the medicine cabinet to find a bandaid big enough to cover the wound. He took a packet out, taking out a large square bandaid.

 _'This should do...'_ He thought to himself, sticking it onto his face and looking back into the mirror. He gave a small nod as it had covered the injury and hopped off the stool. Not bothering to change out of any other part of his clothes, he got a new shirt and put it on, making his way to the living room. It's not like he had many other clothes anyways.

From the living room, he could see the clock that sat in the kitchen. It was 12am. It came to his attention that he had missed both dinner and breakfast. However, despite this he didn't feel hungry so he decided to take the keys and go outside again to distract himself. With this newfound routine, he knew he could get at least a few hours of normalcy. He walked up to the door more confidently this time, unlocking the door and stepping out.

He ran up to the fence, checking to see if that girl and her friend were still next door. He looked up at the fence, waiting for the familiar faces to appear. _'Terra and Aqua.'_ He reminded himself, feeling a small sense of relief that despite the horrors of the night, their names still remained fresh in his mind. His train of thought was interrupted when the blue haired girl from yesterday appeared in front of him, her face peering over the top of the fence.

"I was hoping I would find you here!" She exclaimed, not bothering with a greeting. Ven smiled.

"Me too!" He called back to her. Despite being practically in front of her, they were still yelling at each other.

"Why are we yelling?!" It seems that she noticed too. Both the children broke out into a giggle which lasted for a short time before they decided the joke was over and done with. They both stood in silence for a while. He then noticed that something was very different.

"Where's Terra?" Ven finally said.

"Oh!" Aqua exclaimed, as though she had just remembered something. "He's at training today!"

"Training...?"

"Yep! He's learning how to be a Keyblade wielder.' She smiled, obviously looking very proud of her friend. Ven, however, had a very different reaction. His face fell, looking at his friend in shock.

"A... Keyblade wielder...?" He asked slowly, making sure that he had heard that sentence right.

"Y'know... A person who wields the Keyblade? They protect us from the Heartless that appear at night."

Ven still looked at Aqua with concern, not entirely sure what to say. The girl laughed lightly. "Relax, Ven! Its not like he's _actually_ fighting the Heartless, he's just training!" This only left Ven even more confused. Wasn't that how you were supposed to train, by fighting Heartless? If Terra didn't have to fight them, then why did he? The conversation seemed to have fallen flat on its face again before Aqua picked it up again.

"I'm really proud of Terra, you know? He's doing something to help our town... And not just this one, all the others too! Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, Traverse Town... I wouldn't even have the courage to fight those things let alone hold the Keyblade..." She stared sadly for a bit, her expression suddenly changed as she realised that she had just said that out loud. "But, I really am happy for him!"

Ven stared for a bit, before he started to talk without much thought, as though his body was making him do this automatically. "I'm sure that you'd be great at it! Even if you don't feel like you'd be brave enough, eventually I think your heart will know when it's ready."

"Hey Ven?"

"Yes...?" He started to feel nervous, wondering if what he said had offended her.

"Could you stand on something so I can talk to you properly?" This whole time Aqua had been standing on a bunch of crates that had collected in her backyard over the years she had been living in that house, the boy having to look up from his spot in the ground. The girl kept a straight face, but it was almost obvious that she was trying to hold back a smile.

Ven nodded, running around his backyard for a bit before finally finding a chair, dragging it back to where Aqua was and standing on it, almost level with her. It was then that she leaned over to Ven and gave him a big bear hug, something that the younger boy hadn't experienced in a while. After a short silence, she then whispered "Thank you Ven... I needed that."

Ven stood there, his heart beating fast as he wasn't sure if it would be okay to reciprocate the hug. After a very short while, he reached and arm around her, letting it float close to her back awkwardly before she pulled away, smiling widely.

"Hey, I got an idea! Why don't you come over to my place! It'd be nice to be able to talk to you properly!"

"No!" He almost instantly replied, catching himself afterwards. He signed, lowering his tone of voice. "I can't..."

"Why not?" She asked him slowly, slightly taken aback when her friend had raised his voice at her.

"Because my... dad won't allow me..."

"Have you tried asking him?"

"No, but-"

"Then why don't you? I'll come with you if you want!" She extended her hand to him, her smile had returned as she said those words.

"He's not home!" Ven yelled out quickly, obviously very flustered. There was a short silence. Normally, Ven would be lying but it was the truth... for the most part. It wasn't entirely the reason why he refused to ask such a simple question. "Oh..." Aqua said unenthusiastically, before her smile returned once more. "That's fine! You can just ask him later then!"

They talked for a while longer before Aqua's mum called her for lunch, the both of them sharing their goodbyes before they both jumped off what they were standing on and went back into their houses.

Ven ate much later than usual, still not hungry after his conversation with Aqua. He decided to watch TV again, as there wasn't much else to do. However, knowing that he had the freedom to go in and out as he pleased, he didn't feel so bored when he watched the TV again.

Over the course of the next few hours, the same routine had taken place; Xehanort would come home, pick Ven up, drive him to the forest, walked to the clearing, trained him, drive home, eat then sleep.

 **A/N: Thanks so much to everyone in the reviews for their kind words! I didn't expect this story to get such good reception so I'm really happy!**

 **To explain the AU a little more, or at least better than how I did in the last chapter, basically in this universe, twins another kind of multiple conceptions are extremely rare and are mostly localised in one specific region (spanning across only the 4 towns/cities mentioned here) after an experiment gone wrong. The second born twin is always born without a heart, and physical features that seperate those from who have hearts are that they have a birthmark in the shape of the Proof of Nonexistence (Nobody Symbol) and their names have to be an anagram of their older sibling's name with an X in it. Only 13 Nobodies have been born and they have all formed Orginisation XIII.**

 **I might write this as a story here but ~who knows~**


	3. Over the fence

It had been months since Ven met his two friends, and in that time they had gotten very close. Despite the rather large fence between them, they managed to work with it and find ways to have fun even with such a large obstacle. It would be easy enough to climb over the fence and finally be able to interact with his new friends properly but there was always a part of him that always hesitated. A part of him that could only imagine what would happen to him if Xehanort had caught him. He didn't want his imagination to become a reality so that part of him always won. Often enough his two friends would try to convince him to climb over the fence, wanting to talk to him properly but each and every time they asked, Ven refused, making up an excuse as why he couldn't, often telling them that Xehanort wasn't home. They didn't pressure him on it though, they just continued on with their conversation and left it at that for a while before eventually asking again. Ven enjoyed their company a lot, and over the past few months he had started to make progress. He get more confident around them, not worrying about what to say as much as he did before. He started to look forward to each new day, as it brought stories to be told with it. The only thing that was lacking in their interactions was a proper face-to-face meeting. Technically, they were 'face-to-face', but there was a fence between them that had acted as a sort of barrier between Ven _really_ being outside of his home.

Today was the same as most days; Ven would wake up, maybe shower and eat breakfast if he could be bothered, watch a bit of TV before deciding he was bored and walking into the kitchen an hour or two before lunch and getting the key to unlock the door. Almost every time he went outside, without fail, Terra and Aqua would already be at the fence, talking and probably waiting for him. Today was slightly different as Terra was no where to be seen but Aqua was talking down to someone. Ven walked a little further towards the fence before Aqua turned her head to him, smiling and waving him over before looking down once again and talking. As the boy got closer to the fence, he could faintly hear his other friend on the other side of the fence frequently asking questions. As soon as the boy was close enough to the fence that it was practically towering over him, he reached over to the chair that stood only metres away from him and pulled it towards him, grunting softly as the chair legs dug into the soil before he managed to get it close enough before clambering onto it, standing himself up on the chair before looking over the fence, resting his arms on it as as he leaned himself over the wooden structure. His eyes were met with a stressed Terra frantically writing and asking questions, Aqua standing but looking down at him as she gave him the answers to his question.

"What are you guys doing?" Ven questioned after about a minute of watching them curiously.

"Homework." Terra said simply, not looking up from his page.

Aqua turned herself to Ven, standing herself up. "Terra didn't do his homework over the summer break so I have to help him with it..."

"Aquuaaa, can you help me with this question?" Terra whined, still not looking up from the page but the younger boy could only imagine his distressed face.

A short discussion later, Aqua looked back at Ven. "We got homework and we're meant to hand it in once school starts again but _someone_ decided to leave it to the last minute."

"Aquuaa!" Terra whined, finally looking up from the page with a pout, embarrassed that Aqua mentioned his irresponsibility. The girl giggled, and so did Ven.

"Well you should've done it when you had more time!" She scolded him, yet her voice was edged with a playful tone. There was some silence from the younger boy as Aqua explained the answer slowly and simply to Terra. Ven watched curiously, he hadn't heard of such a thing where student would do school work during a break. Then again, that didn't really say much as Ven had only completed around maybe one year of school. He wasn't entirely sure anymore, it had been slightly more than a year since he started living with Xehanort so the years ended up blending together and he forgot most of the years beforehand.

"Homework...?" He questioned, his voice trailing off slightly. Aqua discussed the answer a little more with Terra, the younger boy starting to wonder if the girl had heard his question before she turned back to him once more.

"Yeah, we get homework to do during the break. I guess it's so we don't forget what we learnt..." Her expression changed slightly, looking a little sullen quite possibly at the thought of having to do work when they were meant to be on break. She stared somewhat past Ven before she snapped out of it as though she just remembered something. "By the way, did _you_ do your homework?" Her expression was softer now, not tipped with anger or annoyance.

"I-I... Uhhh..." He thought for a bit, not sure what to say. His cheeks felt a little warm and his heart started to beat slightly faster than normal, not entirely sure how to explain that he had been skipped almost a year of school because of never being allowed outside? Aqua stared at him, waiting patiently for his reply. Shortly his mind rested on a simple conclusion. "I'm homeschooled..."

"Lucky you, you don't get homework!" She then quietly pondered to herself about how Ven's 'school' work would technically be considered homework since he did it at home. Terra then called for her aid once more, Ven smiling sadly to himself at the words the girl had said before.

"Lucky huh..." He pondered quietly to himself. In all honesty, he himself would prefer to go to school. It'd be better than having to spend most of his day by himself and with that wreck of a man.

Soon his train of thought was interrupted by the faint calling of Aqua's mother announcing that lunch was ready. She had peered over to where the children where standing, her face lighting up as she noticed the boy. She set down the spatula she was holding and walked over to the trio, smiling wide.

"Who's this with you?" She asked, the question directed to Aqua. The woman herself had the same blue eyes and hair as Aqua, she was quite tall as well and still had an apron on from when she was cooking earlier. Aqua beamed up at her mother.

"This is Ven!" She exclaimed proudly.

"Ooh, so _you're_ Ventus! Aqua had told me a lot about you. The boy laughed nervously, once more at a loss for words. He managed to let out a soft 'hi' but that was about it.

"I was just finished with making lunch, want to join us? There should be enough for one more..." Her voice trailed off slightly, as though she was trying to recount that she had in fact made enough.

Ven thought long and thought hard, his heart beating fast in his chest once more. If he joined them, that would mean he would have to climb over the fence. He could simply just refuse once again like every other time, but this time there was a part of him that yearned to join them. He had wanted to for a long time, and it seemed all that time had caught up with him, making these feelings of want grow stronger, almost too much to resist. The scent of the cooked food wafted over to the four of them, making the young boy hungrier than he already was. He was only 7 so he couldn't make himself lunch, despite the food in his own house being in his grasp. Xehanort never bothered to make anything for Ven, possibly seeing the task as a waste of time. The boy would normally have to resort to having toast which wasn't necessarily the best diet since sometimes that's all he would eat for a few days. Sometimes he wouldn't be allowed to have dinner, maybe because of some mishap during training that somehow warranted that kind of punishment. Sometimes he couldn't, fainting during training that evening only to find that he had woken up the next morning, sometimes mid-afternoon without having eaten anything and too sore to even get out of bed.

"It's okay if you can't-"

"I..!" He exclaimed quickly, interrupting Aqua mid-sentence almost automatically as he had then come to a decision. "I can join you today."

Aqua and Terra immediately lit up, looking over to Aqua's mother as she smiled. "Come on over then!" She exclaimed, walking back into the house to set the table. Terra stood up next to Aqua, watching as Ven climbed up onto the fence, resting his leg over it while holding on tight to make sure he doesn't fall. The older children hold onto him, making sure that he doesn't fall over as he clambered over the wooden planks. He turned himself around to bring his other leg over the fence before dropping himself gently onto the crate which Aqua and Terra had been standing on. He faced the two of them, smiling brightly until, within a fraction of a second, they both hugged him tight, celebrating their proper meeting before Aqua's mum then went out and waited by the sliding doors, calling for them to go inside and eat.

"Yes mum!" She called back, grabbing Ven's hand and sliding off of the crate. Terra grabbed the other hand and did the same, the older children helping Ven off of it. The kept their gentle grip on his hands as the walked into the house, all three children still beaming with pure happiness.

As the three children walked in through the back door into a rather large living room, Ven noticed how well decorated and spacious the house was. Apart from the sliding doors, which were made of glass, there were other very large windows that allowed for the natural light to pour into the room and illuminate the contents of the home brightly. The kitchen could be seen on the other side of the room, it too brightly lit by both the light from it's windows and the light that spilled into the kitchen from the living room. Connected to the living room, there was a arch that lead into what looked like a dining room.

Aqua and Terra lead the boy by the hand through the arch to see a rather large table with about 6 chairs. The two older children lead Ven to one of the seats, helping him onto the chair at the end of the table despite the younger boy's complaints. The older children sat themselves down as well, both on either side of Ven as Aqua's mother soon walked in with a few bowls of food. Aqua got up, and power walked into the kitchen. Eventually she came out with a few small plates and set them out on the table. Less than a minute later, they were done and took their places on the table, Aqua's mother sat on the other side of the table across from Ven while aqua sat on the right next to Ven. The spread of food that lay in front of them was quite simple, yet fit to feed three hungry children. Ven stared at the food, unsure whether they would have to begin. He looked up hesitantly, everyone had started to serve their food silently, Aqua and Terra's eyes still filled with pure joy at the premise that they finally can interact with Ven in more ways other than just talking with a fence between the 3 of them. However, they didn't seem to notice Ven's hesitations as he waited for verbal permission to eat. Occasionally he would raise his arm after convincing himself that it was okay to take whatever he wanted, but then in almost an instant, his arm would fall back onto the table as though it suddenly went limp.

Aqua's mother noticed this, looking at the boy quizzically. She knew nothing of him other than the things that Aqua and Terra would tell her. She smiled sympathetically and got out of her chair, making her way to the boy who had frozen in his chair.

"Would it be easier if I served you?" She smiled gently at the boy who squirmed nervously in his seat. Sheepishly, he nodded. Aqua's mother then started to serve him the food. As the woman leaned over Ven, she started to notice the state the poor boy was in. Rather large, misplaced bruises lined up most him arm which was already mostly skin and bone. She began to wonder if he was being fed well at home. Maybe that would be something to bring up with her neighbour.

It didn't take too long until his plate was filled with food since this spread of food was quite simple and lacking in variety, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing since the food smelled like heaven, and soon his plate was placed back right in front of him. Steam trailed up from the food which brought the smell closer to him. Ven tentatively picked up the pair of chopsticks that lay parallel to the plate, fumbling with them a little since it had been a while since he had properly used chopsticks, and soon he slowly started to pick up food but only being able to pick up a rather small amount due to his lost experience. Aqua's mother watched him carefully as the six year old ate, slight concern had risen in her thoughts as the boy nervously ate. After a short while, she returned to eating her food. As lunch went on, the trio of children made conversation that seemed to drone on and on which wasn't a bother to Aqua's mum. It was nice to see the trio in action right in front of her rather than just hearing stories from her child. And it was nice to have new company. Usually it would be rather quiet with just her and Aqua at the table, with her husband usually away for work during this time.

Only about 20 minutes later, they all managed to devour their food and the children were dismissed, the three of them running outside to play but not after Aqua's mother was thanked for the delicious food that was put on the table. She smiled, collecting the plates and utensils and bringing them to the kitchen to be cleaned. Out the window, she could see the trio make their way outside and it was clear that they were still excited for the recent arrival of Ven into Aqua's backyard.

* * *

"What should we do now?" Aqua asked, standing in front of the two boys. Terra was laying on his back on the crate and Ven sat cross-legged on the soft grass. The both of them seemed to think before Terra spoke up.

"Hmm... I dunno..." He had lifted his head, now looking at Aqua as he thought hard.

"Don't you still have homework to do?" Ven chimed in curiously.

Terra groaned loudly, his expression matching his pained voice and his head dropping back into it's original, upside down position. "Don't remind me..." He whined, sustaining the groan and carrying it into his sentence.

"Come on Terra!" Aqua exclaimed, Terra lifting his head once again to look at Aqua as she spoke. "We don't have much left of summer vacation left! And you don't wanna get in trouble with the teachers as soon as school starts, do ya?"

Terra leaned his head back again, groaning once more but it was more a noise of defeat rather than anger or frustration. "No, I don't..."

"Then we should continue!"

"But what about Ven?"

"Well... I guess he could help us?"

"But he's younger than us! He probably hasn't even learnt this stuff yet! Plus he'll just get bored..." Terra's voice trailed off and it was clear that he was just trying to find an excuse to get out of doing his homework. However, he wasn't a very good liar.

"Terra! You've procrastinated long enough! We have to do this _now!_ " Aqua nagged in a whingy voice. Terra just stared at her as though she had spoken in a different language.

"Pro... Crastinate?" He questioned, clearly he hadn't heard this word before. Aqua rolled her eyes.

"It means that you put off doing the work last minute!"

"See? You're smarter than me, why don't _you_ do the work!" Aqua slapped her forehead with the palm of her hands, sighing loudly.

"Terra, that's not the point!" She sighed again, but it was more gentle then the last one. Her expression softened. "Come on, it won't take long if you have us helping you."

Ven, who had been quietly listening to the pair's banter, nodded. He figured that all he'd have to at least look like he was helping. He hadn't been to school in almost 2 years and even then, he had only been to school for only a year. Terra groaned again, hopping out of his position on the crate and ran inside to grabs his books which he had left on the coffee table in the living room. Aqua sat down on the grass, Ven slowly moving himself next to her in a sort of semicircle shape. A short while later, Terra ran back outside with his books in his hands and he sat between Aqua and Ven to complete the circle. Aqua and Terra got into the work, the brown haired boy looking as bored as ever while Aqua tried her hardest to get him to focus and at least seem a little more enthusiastically. Occassionally, they would spend a lot of time on a singular question as Terra didn't know the answer to it let alone know how to figure it out, and Aqua would stumble in her explanations, jumping from different formulas and setting out. Ven stared at the page blankly. It seemed to be maths, but it was different to what he had learnt in his one year at school. The numbers danced around the page as though it were mocking him, the words in the questions and formulas seemed to be like a completely new, made up language.

After a few hours, Terra had finished the remainder of his work. "Finally!" He exclaimed, limply falling onto his back in relief. Aqua stare at him, smiling sheepishly as the rubbed at her nape.

"Umm... Actually, now we have to do some English work..." Terra shot up at this, staring Aqua dead in the eyes. His expression was almost blank, but it still clearly portrayed the shock and betrayal he was feeling deep down. This forced a laugh from both Aqua and Ven, who found Terra's reaction absolutely hilarious. Trying to compose herself, Aqua waved her hands in front of her face and tried to stifle the laughter. Ven, however, kept laughing like there was no tomorrow.

"Don't-" Aqua began to laugh uncontrollably again. Terra's face hadn't changed at all for the past minute or so and his expression was still as funny as ever. She composed herself, a wide smile still spread across her face. "Don't worry, we'll continue it tomorrow." She finally finished her sentence, constantly being interrupted by her own laughter. It didn't help that during all this, Ven kept laughing. It kept reigniting the fits of laughter but she made it in the end. Terra sighed rather loudly and flopped back onto his back and looked about ready to fall asleep. This reminded Ven...

"Actually, I should be going about now." He stood up rather quickly, unsure exactly what time it would be now.

"Awww, so soon?" Terra lifted his head up to look at Ven as Aqua spoke. He looked about equally disappointed. "Will you at least be here tomorrow?"

Ven thought for a bit. He knew he had training that evening and it was hard to say whether or not he would be there for lunch again, let alone at all. His training only seemed to get harder and harder and the months and days would carry on, so he was unsure about what would even happen the next day if it were to ever occur in the first place. "S-Sure..." His voice trailed off, making that statement seem less convincing. Aqua and Terra, however, didn't seem to notice this as they just smiled brightly, their expressions changing so suddenly. Both of them hopped to their feet, stepping towards him and locking him in a tight bear hug.

"See you tomorrow Ven!" They both called out. Ven whinced, wondering if it were possible that Xehanort had heard them. That is, if he was even home in the first place. After about a minute, he was finally set free and his friends followed him to the crate, helping him climb onto it. They climbed onto it too, making sure that the younger boy wouldn't topple over on his way over the fence. Luckily, Ven managed to keep his balance, landing safely on the chair. He waved his friends goodbye for the last time that day and went inside. Seeing that the boy was safely home, Terra and Aqua had gone back into Aqua's house and continued on with their own activities until later that evening.

* * *

Back in Xehanort's house, Ven checked the time on the clock that hung over the door that lead to the back garden. It read 3:30pm. Satisfied that there was still an hour and a half until Xehanort would come home, Ven decided to sit back on the couch and watch TV. As the house got darker, the TV seemed to illuminate the furniture even more. The boy couldn't find the motivation in him to get up and turn on the lights, deciding that he'd have to watch whatever was on in the dark like some neanderthal. Later that evening, he heard the sound of gravel crushing under tires as the man himself pulled up into the driveway, the sound of the door closing as he got out of the car, the sound of footsteps as he approached the door, the sound of the keys jingling and the click of the lock as it opened. All these sounds terrified Ven, making his heart race, making him unable to focus, making him grip the soft fabric of the couch as if he held hard enough, he wouldn't have to see that man. He tried to keep calm, but his fear almost got the better of him. The door opened.

"Ven." The man croaked simply, his voice still raspy as ever. Giving no reply, Ven turned his head to look at Xehanort. No further words had to be said, Ven knew what to do. He turned off the TV and hopped off of the sofa, slowly making his way out of the door and past Xehanort, walking into the car he was shortly followed by the man after he locked the door. Soon, the car had started and they pulled out of the driveway, passing by Aqua's house. It was rather quick, but Ven swore he saw his two friends and Aqua's mother standing at the doorway, seemingly to see Terra off as he was possibly heading home. His heart ached as he longed to be with them rather than this man. But no one even noticed him, and even if they did, no one would ever suspect that anything could possibly be wrong.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy crap, finally I got the motivation to write after almost half a year of no updates for this story. Anyways, here ya go. Don't worry, things are only going to go downhill from here ;) (This is also my longest chapter yet for this story). Also, I kinda ended up giving up on the ending to this so sorry if its really bad and if the ending to this is too short ;; Anyways, enjoy!**


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